Together We'll Cross the River
by Kek-t
Summary: Megatron just wants to go home. Disclaimer: I own neither Transformers, nor the song 'The Humbling River' sung by Puscifer.


Red optics snapped opened to gaze at the shining city before him. He was standing just on the outskirts, a few feet before crackled ground met opal glazed streets. The glimmering golden light reflected over the dark sky; a beacon in the bleak void of space. He lifted a servo to stretch forward, but only came into contact with smooth glass.

Nature, nurture heaven and home  
Sum of all, and by them, driven

Dread welled in him as he felt the darkness at his back. He wanted into the flawless city. More than anything, he wanted to be held in its familiar embrace; to be home. His sharp servos tried to dig into the glass, scrambling to find some purchase or weak point. He would find a way in, even if he had to do it by force. It was to no avail; the glass wouldn't budge.

To conquer every mountain shown  
But I've never crossed the river

A myriad of colors and lights illuminated the once transparent glass. His servos smooth over familiar images that flicker across the surface. He was speaking to the elders of Cybertron. Decepticons and Autobots clashed. He watched their planet fall to ruins. Silent screams played across the screen, highlighting enemies and allies alike. The sparks extinguished cast shadows behind the glass and images.

Braved the forests, braved the stone  
Braved the icy winds and fire

He couldn't drag his optics away as he watched himself battle, ruthlessly ending the lives of those who stood in his way; casting more shadows that began to take shape of those who had fallen. His digits pressed into the dome before his servo curled into a fist and started pounding on the screen. When it didn't shatter, or even vibrate, he pressed his chassis hard against the surface. He bowed his helm, knocking it against the glass as he stared at the barren ground outside the dome.

Braved and beat them on my own  
Yet I'm helpless by the river

He offlined his optics and his claws started clenching over the glass. His spark twisted in abandonment and loneliness. The excluded knew no one would come for him. He opened his derma and spoke.

**"Angel, angel, what have I done? I've faced the quakes, the wind, the fire. I've conquered country, crown, and throne. Why can't I cross this river?"**

Shuffling met his audios and he looked up slowly. His dark red optics locked with bright blue. Air caught in his throat. The shadows had dispersed with the mech's presence. His mouth guard was in place, but he didn't wear a battle ready expression. Instead, his twin orbs were filled with sadness and understanding. The excluded opened his derma to ask the question that had been ignored, voice rougher and more mocking than before.

**"Angel, angel, what have I done? I've faced the quakes, the wind, the fire. I've conquered country, crown, and throne. Why can't I cross this river?"**

The red and blue mech gave him a level stare. Their optics bore into each other's soul for a long moment before the one inside the dome responded softly.

_"Pay no mind to the battles you've won. It'll take a lot more than rage and muscle. Open your heart and hands, my son. Or you'll never make it over the river."_

The excluded stiffened in outrage before he back up a few feet. Optics still locked on the savior, he lifted his arm with the fusion cannon and pointed it at the mech behind the glass. The call to battle was clear. The savior did not disappoint. He moved forward calmly, optics still alight with sickening understanding and compassion. He slipped past the barrier with ease; the images along the glass rippled as he left the city of light and joined the excluded on the barren wasteland.

_"It'll take a lot more than words and guns. A whole lot more than riches and muscle. The hands of the many must join as one. And together we'll cross the river."_

The excluded lowered the weapon and the whine of the cannon died down. But the fire alight in his optics could not be mistaken for compliance. Both swords slipped from their sheaths in synchrony. The two opposing forces clashed in an age old dance.

It'll take a lot more than words and guns  
A whole lot more than riches and muscle  
The hands of the many must join as one  
And together we'll cross the river

The shadows beyond the glass had returned. The Cybertronians from the present and ages past became more distinct in their shaping as they clasped servos. They began to chant as the battle raged on. The sound bounced and echoed off the glass in a haunting song; a blended hymn of ancient Cybertronian tongues and various other planetary languages.

Nature, nurture heaven and home  
It'll take a lot more than words and guns  
Sum of all, and by them, driven  
A whole lot more than riches and muscle  
To conquer every mountain shown  
The hands of the many must join as one  
And together we'll cross the river

Memories that had been confined to the glass broke free and swirled around the fighting pair. Every clash of the sword was accompanied by a blaring glare of light. The contours of their faceplates were defined by the colors reflected off the glass. Pictures of their past flickered by them in reverse. Savior and Excluded shouted at one another over the sound of wind whipping past them.

"**Braved the forests, braved the stone."**

They relived their final battle where neither side came out a winner. There was the duo agony of having their sparks extinguished and then the crushing rush of nothingness. A sparkle of light replaced the void, summoning them to the city.

"_It'll take a lot more than words and guns."_

They watched their factions get picked off one by one. Each life taken away only led them closer and closer to extinction. It was the end of their once peaceful and corrupt race. The war was coming to an end.

"**Braved the icy winds and fire."**

The two felt the solitude of being lost amongst the stars for so long. The freezing void of space had eaten away at their spirit, chipping them down until neither were anything past two opposing forces, and nothing more. The blistering heat of the stars melted them down. Their souls became rounded off where there should have been linking puzzle pieces.

"_A whole lot more than riches and muscle."_

They relived the destruction and utter devastation as they killed their home. The two watched their world burn and turn to ash before their very optics. The Excluded shoved the Savior back onto the glass, triumphant when the mech didn't sink back into the safety of the city. He pressed his blade at the opposing force's neck.

"**Braved and beat them on my own."**

The excluded and the savior opened old wounds of abandonment and betrayal from one another. There was the suffocating pressure of being made to lead and to survive alone. They had always been a pair; blending seamlessly as their opposing natures covered the weaknesses of the other. The two of them could have done so much more. Their sword disintegrated; metal flakes joined the swirl. Dust appeared on their frames. The grip Excluded had on Savior slipped as his plating worn down to reveal another being beneath it.

_"The hands of the many must join as one."_

Excluded backed up, feeling dust on his own metal give away at the touch. Savior just followed, reaching out a servo to touch him. Memories flashed between them. Two friends worked towards a better world. The two friends laughed, they shared their stories, and they smiled.

_"And together we'll cross the river."_

Excluded shook his helm in vigorously, retreating as Savior tried to brush off more of the dust. He snarled silently at the mech, daring him to come closer. Savior seemed to debate something for a moment before his faceguard slipped back, showing his faceplates to the world. The mech opened his derma and murmured.

_"And together we'll cross the river."_

Excluded felt air hitch in his throat once again. Savior brushed off the dust from his shoulders and the metal beneath them smoothed out. He flinched and wrapped his dulling digits around the mech's neck. Savior gave him a level stare before pushing the halfheartedly threatening hold down to his own shoulder where the Autobot insignia laid. Excluded ran his digits over it and it crumbled off. Savior did the same for the Decepticon insignia on his chassis.

_"And together we'll cross the river."_

Excluded felt the heavy burden being lifted off of him as the dust fell away and joined the swirl. The metallic pieces rushing around them reflected the light of the city. Red optics stared forlornly at the flawless golden. The shadows were no longer darkness casting over the city; they glowed with a faint, warm blue. Excluded knew his soul would not reveal the same color. He bowed his helm and pressed his forehead against Savior's. Quietly, he whispered the words that welled up in his soul.

**"Nature, nurture heaven and home."**

Savior gave a brilliant, reassuring smile. The red and blue mech continued to brush off the dust until he was in a form he hadn't seen in eons. Gentle digits then rested above his optics. Their gaze met before Savior covered his optics and softly brushed away the dust in them. When he pulled back, they were an achingly familiar blue.

_"And together we'll cross the river."_

Excluded tried to show the mech that he was no longer worthy. He shook his helm, and the metal that covered his soul cracked open. Power thrummed from the slit as the sinful purple light peeked through. Savior looked down without fear or contempt. He encouraged Excluded to brush the dust off of him, before he cupped his servos around the poisoned spark. A pair of newly rounded, grey servos did as asked. His took in the warrior as he dug deep inside to the pacifist buried underneath.

_"And together we'll cross the river."_

Savior continued to murmur the small promise over and over. Excluded cried out when a burning pain erupted in his spark. But instead of pushing the mech away, he crushed him closer in an embrace. He let out trembling gasps as agony coursed through his frame. Savior shushed him as the purple light slipped through his digits. It brushed against the red and blue mech's servos and up his arms tauntingly. Savior didn't flinch; didn't pull away even as the light tried to engulf his own spark through his chassis plating. Excluded shook and energon trailed down his faceplates when blue light shone through the purple light in his spark chamber. Bright blue from behind Savior's chassis glowed in response. The purple coiled in a tight ball between them before the glow destroyed the darkness. Excluded lifted his servo to gently hold it against Savior's faceplates. He whispered back, but this time he didn't look at the flawless city.

**"Nature, nurture heaven and home."**

Savior rested his cheek in the palm, rewarding Excluded with a warm expression. He lifted one servo to grasp the one against his faceplates while the other reached up and brushed the energon tears away. He lowered their servos between them, cradling the Excluded's between both of his, before he eased himself out of the embrace. Panic flittered in Excluded optics but Savior pulled him along, headed toward the glass dome.

"_And together we'll cross the river."_

Excluded tightened his hold on Savior when his back slipped through the glass. Their optics still locked even as the barrier rippled between them. Their digits were intertwined as Orion Pax's wrists slid through the dome. Megatronus opened his derma to breathe a quiet prayer.

"**And together we'll cross the river."**


End file.
